The present invention relates to systems and methods for producing and using fine particle materials. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for taking raw materials, pulverizing those raw materials, and incorporating the pulverized materials into products to enhance the visual appearance of the products.
In numerous commercial products, pigment blends are used to create color and visual effects that aesthetically appeal to consumers. Because different consumers have different preferences to various visual effects, a designer""s ability to create and control these effects is often important to the marketability of a product. Often, additives such as coated mica flakes, metal flakes, and glass flakes have been used in pigment blends to enhance the visual appeal of items such as automobiles, boats, planes, appliances, signs, painted surfaces, fabrics, and other consumer goods.
Depending on the nature of the substrate to which the pigment blend is introduced, there are certain visual effects that often have strong aesthetic appeal to consumers. Coated mica flakes, for example, is one of the more common additives used to improve luster and depth of color of paint compositions on cars. Metal flakes, such as aluminum flakes, are another common additive used to improve the sparkle of paint and coatings.
While the aforementioned additives offer some of the visual effects that typically appeal to consumers, a need remains for an economical pigment blend that enables a designer to create and control a broader range of visual effects. Moreover, a need always exists for improved ways to enhance the functional properties of paint and coating compositions, such as increased durability, increased travel, improved pattern control, UV screening, and reduced settling problems from particulates in unapplied paint or coatings.
These and other needs are satisfied in accordance with the present invention by providing systems and methods for making and using fine particle materials in pigment blends and for using the aforementioned pigment blends in paint, coating, or coloring compositions. The invention further provides systems and methods for enhancing the visual appearance of a variety of substrates by introducing such a paint, coating, or coloring composition to the substrate. The fine particle materials of the present invention have a substantially random geometric shape, a particle size less than about 100 microns, and help provide both functional and visual enhancing properties to compositions and substrates containing these fine particle materials.
The fine particle materials of the present invention may be made generally from any pulverizable material. Initially, solid raw pulverizable material may be sorted according to type and subsequently cleaned of any impurities. Depending on the original size of the solid raw material, it may be sent, either before or after cleaning, to a crusher to reduce the size of the raw material into pieces suitable for efficient pulverizing. Once the raw material has been separated, crushed, and cleaned, it is conveyed to a first feed hopper that then feeds the raw material to a first pulverizer. The pulverized particles made by pulverizing the raw material may then be sent to a screen classifier to remove any remaining impurities, such as particle metal waste resulting from wear and tear of the innards of the pulverizer, if necessary. Next, the pulverized particle material is classified according to size. Pulverized particle materials that do not meet the desired size limitation may be sent to be either pulverized again or milled to further reduce the particle material to a size suitable for the desired application. Alternatively, the pulverized material produced by the first pulverizer may be sent immediately to a ball mill to help reduce the particle material to a desired particle size.
The fine particle materials of the present invention may be used in pigment blends to enhance the visual and functional properties of a substrate. One or more coloring agents may be optionally added to the pigment to assist with enhancing the visual appearance of the substrate to be treated. The visual appearance of the substrate may be enhanced by introducing a coating, coloring, or paint composition containing the pigment blend with the fine particle material to the substrate by either applying the composition to the surface of the substrate or by incorporating the composition into the substrate itself.